Rule of Rose
Rule of Rose (ルールオブローズ, Rūru obu Rōzu) is a survival horror game for the PlayStation 2 developed by Punchline and published by Atlus in 2006. It has often been compared with other simular survival horror gaming series such as [http://silenthill.wikia.com/wiki/Silent_Hill_(franchise) Silent Hill], Clock Tower, and Fatal Frame due to the psychological horror elements used throughout, and its distorted storyline. It is also compared to the one-shot game, [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Haunting_Ground Haunting Ground] due to the use of a canine companion for the main character. Set in 1930s England, a few years before the Second World War broke out, the game tells the story of a teenage girl named Jennifer as she is forced to work for the Red Crayon Aristocrat Club: an unruly, cruel society formed by the children of the Rose Garden Orphanage. Upon its release, Rule of Rose gained mixed reviews from many publications. It was praised for its intriguing, original, and in-depth storyline, while it was put down for its "irritating" combat system and confusing plot. The game has also been the subject of controversy, due to the scenes of violence against the main adult protagonist inflicted by the child cast and the suggested sexuality amongst its underaged, female characters. Game Plot Further infomation: Characters of Rule of Rose and Themes of Rule of Rose The main story of Rule of Rose focuses on nineteen-year-old Jennifer, as she recovers the forgotten memories of her childhood and remembers the people she knew at the Rose Garden Orphanage. Because the plot is based on Jennifer's memories alone, what really happened is not always obvious to the player due to the fact that Jennifer's poor memory can alter or distort events and dates. The fact that the plot is only based on Jennifer's point of view also stops the player from seeing all sides of the story as well. What happened before and after the events of the game is never revealed, although some hints are given. March 1930 - The Little Princess The game begins with the opening words to the ''Little Princess'' storybook: In the dead of night, Jennifer sleeps at the back of a bus traveling along a rural country road. At the front of the bus, a young boy is reading a handmade storybook. He then goes up to Jennifer, waking her up, and begs her to read the rest of story to him. Jennifer takes the book, but to her surprise, most of the pages are blank. Just then, the bus comes to a stop and the boy suddenly runs out of the bus and down the road. Jennifer yells for him to wait, and follows the boy off the bus, which, immediately after, speeds away, leaving Jennifer all by herself. With the book still in her hands, Jennifer reads the first part but nothing is written beyond what the player has already heard. After reading the tale, the following text appears into the screen: Following the path after the boy up the strange hill, Jennifer can hear "familiar" sounds of a dog barking. Going up one of the paths, she finds a unlocked shed and finds two items: a fake boarding pass and a dog collar bearing the name "Brown." After leaving the shed, the boy is again spotted, running away. Following the boy, Jennifer is led to a "familiar" mansion. Through the bars of the front gate, she sees two children wearing bags over their heads, with one of them beating something in a sack with a stick. Behind them, the boy goes into the mansion, shutting the door behind him.. Frightened, Jennifer looks for a different way in. She finds a back gate and uses the boarding pass to be granted entrance. Back at the front of the house, she finds the girls and sack missing. Jennifer travels into the mansion, as the front doors lock behind her. Following the boy up the stairs and into an attic room, she finds the boy standing on top of a fort, and he advises her to read the story to him. She opens the book, finding that the story has one more full page: After the reading, a voice calls out over the loudspeaker, announcing the start of a funeral. The boy advises Jennifer that the funeral is for her "dear friend" before diappearing again. In the inner court, Jennifer finds the grave and "senses something very dear to her" buried there, and starts to dig furiously. She finds a coffin, and Inside, she finds the beaten sack. Before she can do anything the bagged children surround her. One exclaims how "filthy" Jeniffer is, giving the girls the cue to pour water on her ceremoniously. As this happens, a voice over the speakers gives a pre-flight speach, and Jeniffer is helplessly pushed into the coffin before the gang of girls closes her inside, and carry her away to an unknown fate. April 1930 - The Unlucky Clover Field The Clover Field storybook Out of the coffin and with the sack empty, Jeniffer wakes up and finds herself tied to a support beam in a strange room. Over the speakers, the boy - watching her from the next room - tells Jeniffer in a cruel, mocking tone, that she has been a bad girl. He advises her that every month she has to offer a gift to the Aristocrat Club or he, the ruling Prince, will kill her. The boy then lowers a pair of scissors on a pully and cuts Jenniffer free. After exploring the unknown area, she finds the door to the Aristocrat Club with a poster pinned upon it: After looking out some windows, Jenniffer discovers that she is traveling on an airship in the sky. She walks around, meeting strange girls, who are addressed as princesses, typically fairly rude to her. One girl, however, addresses herself as "Wendy" and greets Jennifer in a polite and friendly manner. May 1930 - Sir Peter After Amanda had put the rat face she felt really bad and so she wrote a letter telling Jennifer to meet her at the highest point of the airship. Once Jennifer reached there Amanda attacked/apologized to her for what she did and told her to do the same to her (rat in the face) when it was time and Amanda asked Jennifer if they were still friends but answered herself saying she knows they are because she trusts her. Little did they know that Diana was watching them. As soon as they went to Amanda's sewing room Amanda told Jennifer she had a surprise for her but it wasn't done yet (the surprise is the doll of Jennifer she'll beat up in October). When Jennifer left the room a crumpled piece of paper was thrown at her that told her and Amanda to go straight to the Gift Box immediatley. Once there the box was destroyed but the bulliten said "THIS IS AN EMERGENCY ONE-HORNED PETER RAN AWAY CATCH HIM! CATCH HIM!" and Jennifer began her search. It wasn't long until she ran into the bunny and it ran away and entered her (the filth) room but Gregory was there and told her (calling her Joshua) that he wrote a new story for her. After she read the book "Sir Peter" Peter showed himself and ran off and Jennifer began the chase with the help of Brown. After a long while she entered a room and the imps were beating up Peter in a bag with brooms. Once they noticed Jennifer's presence they ran off to tell Mr.Hoffman who after finding out went to attack her (this is the first boss battle). After defeating him the imps drag Mr.Hoffman away leaving him with a fate unknown and Jennifer then takes Peter to the Aristocrats of the Red Crayon and gets promoted for her hard work while Amanda gets demoted for not finding Peter and Jennifer now has to put the rat in Amanda's face (although forced since Diana kicked her butt and made her stumble (this also is what fuels Amanda's hatred towards Jennifer(the promotion not the rat))). Upon putting the rat at Amanda's face she immediately fainted. As she woke up,she realized herself woke up in the Aristocarf Club Room with Joshua in there, telling her what a bad girl she was and asked her to read three story books, The Bird of Happiness, Mermaid Princess and The Goat Sisters, in order to make her remember her sin. In each book, there was a missing page at the end of the story. July 1930 - The Bird of Happiness The Bird of Happiness storybook One of the three story which Joshua asked Jeniffer to read in order to remember her sins. Upon reading these story, Jennifer had realized she was in another room with Eleanor and an empty bird cage at her hand. Eleanor said ' The red bird ', continued,' have you're found what you're looking for? something dear to you?' and walked out of the room. Jennifer walked to the Aristocart Club Room and overheard Diana and Meg talking about someone, and they walked away to continue the conversation at their secret place as they drop a red feather which later taken by Jennifer. After they left, Jennifer then looked at Aristocart Club Door. ' This month's gift, The Bird Of Happiness,' written for that month's gift. With the red feather as a clue, Jennifer asked Brown to find where it lead to. Following Brown, they later found marks resembled to a red bird. Either following the marks or Brown, Jennifer then found lots of red feathers which later lead to the women's lavatory and to one toilet with a bird mark and blood above it. Hearing someone was approching towards her, she then hid in the toilet with the mark. Diana and Meg was rushing to the next toilet which was their secret place. Jennifer heard Diana and Meg snickering and laughing as they bad-mouthed Eleanor. They left moment later. As Jennifer left the women's lavatory, she found Diana and Meg standing in front of her, waiting ' Eavesdropping, eh, Jennifer?' Diana asked Meg then told Jennifer that the Bird of Happiness was somewhere in a room nearby, but couldn't remember. Diana and Meg then made a bet if Eleanor would cry or get angry if she found her bird is dead. Jennifer later found a box with a Land Sketch on a paper, which is a clue to open the box, in a room. There was another box, which is smaller, and another clue to open the box. Upon opening the box, there was another small box in there. Each box, if open, another box comes out, hence, the similarity in the story book ' The Bird of Happiness ' she read. The fifth box was the last one and in it was a Eleanor's red dead bird. A cutscene took place where Eleanor took the bird an put it in her cage, taking it to the Aristocrat Club's gift box as that month's gift. Eleanor entered the room followed by Meg and Diana. Ending the cutscene, Jennifer then found out that she was back in the first room for 'The Bird of Happiness' story. She found the torn page of 'The Bird of Happiness' story book Jennifer then wrote 'everlasting' at the chalkboard below the bucket knight (save point) to remember the promise she made to a dear friend. Later, she woke up in the Aristocrat Room just like before. Joshua then asked her to read another story. August 1930 - Mermaid Princess When Jennifer closes the storybook Diana is in the room banging the broom against the wall and then she says to herself "rats. The fish is gone Mr. Hoffma will be furious." then she says to Jennifer "you should be looking for your own precious thing". September 1930 - The Goat Sisters The Goat Sisters storybook Just like what happened before, after she finished reading the story, she somehow realized herself in another room with Meg, The wise-looking princess ' it's not here either, if someone else finds it ,' Meg said to herself and walked away. Jennifer then continue and found a Meg's pencil on the chair. With Brown help, she found an 'Aristocrat's note', written: Also she found a 'Stray Dog List', written: And then she found a 'Love Letter', written: In another room, Sector 14 Storage, Jennifer met Diana and Eleanor, with a goat sitting above a box, discussing, '...that's why I don't like her,' Jennifer explained,'Diana follows me everywhere. It's pathetic, What do you think, Eleanor?' ' She was writing you a love letter,' Diana then explained that she already got it, and ripped it in half. She tried to make the goat eat it, but it wouldn't even look at it. They then faced Jennifer and asked her to find the missing piece of the love letter as she gave her the other piece she had. In the Aristocrat Luggage room, she met The Goat Sister, on which two imps who were consider bosses for this chapter. After defeating The Goat Sister, Jennifer then examined the grandfather clock in that room and found a dead goat with rocks and the other piece of the love letter flowing out of its stomach. Diana and Eleanor entered the room when Jennifer found the love letter, as Meg followed in later then, and accused Jennifer who torn apart her love letter. ' It's into the Onion Bag for her,' she said while in Diana's arm. Jennifer was put in the Onion Bag while the other children put something awful in it such as praying mantis, spider and rotten cookie, one for each person. Just like the previous chapter, Jennifer woke up in the first room she was sent in this chapter and found the last torn page for the storybook, The Goat Sister, under a goat doll. She then write 'true love' on the chalkboard below the Bucket Knight. June 1930 - The Gingerbread House October 1930 - Rag Princess Sews Rag Princess storybook After the ordeal in The Gingerbread House, Jennifer was back in front of the Aristocrat Club's door. The poster in front of the door now says, So she started searching for the missing bear. In front of Amanda's room (Working Class Luggage), Gregory was standing there and said that he was sure that Joshua would like this story he wrote for him. That's when Jennifer found the Rag Princess storybook, which is in front of Amanda's room. In the Working Class Luggage,She found Amanda sat as usual in front of the sewing machine. Amanda somehow startled when Jennifer tried to talk to her. ' You don't suspect me of stealing it, do you?' asked Amanda as Jennifer leave the room,' It's.. Umm.. Wendy! She's always sick in bed! It's got to be her!' Jennifer then looked for Wendy, and found her lying on the floor in the sickbay room. 'Ohh.. Diana and the others came to me just a minute ago,' Wendy said,'and... they accused me, saying I'm the one who took Joshua the bear, How could they think that?' Wendy then thanked as well as apologized at Jennifer about how she promised to take care of Joshua. November 1930 - The Funeral The sun is setting and Mr. Hoffman starts telling the children it's spring cleaning time. Jennifer awakens in the orphanage tied up to a pole with her socks missing, her dress written on with red crayon and red crayons in her mouth. She calls Brown to come and help free her which he does. She then proceeds downstairs to see the kids doing their spring cleaning chores and Mr. Hoffman accuses Jennifer of playing "hooky" again and tells her to go into his office. He calls her a dirty wretch and tells her to do her job like all the other children. After that Jennifer goes to talk to the children but none will talk to her and after she talks to each she gets crumpled pieces of paper thrown at her that say things like "LIAR!, FILTHY! etc. but one note tells her to go to back to the main hallway and when she does it's nightime and Mr. Hoffman tells them all good night (except Jennifer). Jennifer opens the paper only to see that she is now this months gift. In a panic se tries to get out to the backyard of the house because she sees Wendy there all by herself and it's impless there but the door is tied shut telling her to kill: 2 rat imps, 2 goat imps and 2 pig imps. Once dead she proceeds to the backyard and Brown goes to Wendy who's being nice to him but something's a little off. She then tells Jennifer about an important Aristocrat Club Meeting and she hopes enjoys it calling it a "special day". Jennifer turns her back on them and reads the book titled "The Funeral". After she's done she hears Brown barking in pain. Jennifer turns around to see Wendy and Brown gone and runs up to The Club Room but on the way the children left stuffed versions Brown which makes Jennifer think that he's dead. Once in the clubroom the children are there giggling and The Princess of the Red Rose comes and reveals herself to be Wendy. Amanda then tells her "your friend is in the bag it's too late now" and points to the bag with Brown in it dead. Jennifer becomes full of rage and slaps Wendy several times calling her a liar and promising to never forgive her. She then calls the Aristocrats idiots for beleiveing Wendy's lies and takes off the rose pin Wendy gave her saying "it's over". Wendy humilated and heartbroken runs out the room crying. December 1930 - Stray Dog and the Lying Princess It's a rainy day and at the front of the orphanage you see Gregory M. Wilson at the front gate. Jennifer awakens in her room and hears laughter from Amanda and Susan who beckon her to follow them. Amanda then shoves Jennifer to a room where the Aristocrats of the Red Crayon ask her to be the new "Princess of the Rose". A little bit after they ask Susan sees Wendy outside and the girls are prepared to go outside and make fun of her and tell her that she's been replaced. Not soon after Jennifer hears screaming outside and just silently stands in fear of what to do. Suddenly the front door opens and Jennifer sees the severed bodies of the children and Joshua and Gregory are there and Gregory is now being Stray Dog and Joshua sets him to attack Jennifer now. After a while of battling Stray Dog Brown (symbolically making her stronger) will come to aid Jennifer. After overcoming him Jennifer proceeds outside to find Joshua. Joshua then turns out to be Wendy who tells you she why she did this (for love) and that she's sorry for what she has done and Gregory comes and kills her. Bad Ending: In this ending, Jennifer is unable to come to terms with her past. It is obtained by killing the final boss, Gregory, who will put his hands together and collapse to the ground. The screen slowly fades to black and a message comes up on the screen, stating that Jennifer has wound up all alone again, and couldn't keep her promise, nor save anyone. Wendy's voice is heard, laughing maniacally as words come up stating the phrase "What a pitiful, unlucky girl." Good Ending: This ending is obtained by giving the gun to Gregory. He will use it to shoot himself and Jennifer will run into a bright light which is escorting her away to come to terms with her past in the "Once Upon a Time" chapter. January 1930 - Once Upon a Time You now play Jennifer as a little girl in the Rose Garden Orphanage. Here, she can tell you everything she remebers - bad, good, and what went wrong. When Jennifer goes outside of the orphanage, she sees that Wendy is there, drawing in the dirt. Jennifer goes up to her and they each greet eachother with curtsies, and kiss eachother on the forehead. Jennifer travels through the gate before it shuts on Wendy, who then goes up to it and lowers her head in sorrow and loneliness. Once Jennifer reaches the shed, she gives Brown the collar she made for him and locks him in, promising to protect him forever and ever until she dies. Game Play For most of the game, the player explores the environments and looks for items, furthering the plot by accomplishing tasks and experiencing cut-scenes, as well as encountering random enemy battles and a few boss battles. Brown's Abilities Early in the game, the player encounters Brown, who accompanies Jennifer throughout the game and will respond to commands; such as tracking items by scent, being commanded to 'stay' and being called to Jennifer's side. Brown cannot attack enemies, but can growl, which distracts some imps and bosses, allowing Jennifer to retreat or land a few blows without fear of retaliation. He can be injured to the point of collapse, causing him to stop distracting enemies or tracking an item. Brown's ability to locate items is an improtant part of the game and is used in every chapter of Rule of Rose to progress further in game and plot. The same system allows the player to find health restoratives and other items which, whilst not essential to complete the game, can help the player and unlock hidden items. Finding items is very much like a treasure trial: the players selects an item from the inventory for Brown to locate another, which is then connected to the 'find' command until changed or removed. When tracking items this way, Brown will lead the player through the environments, scratching at doors in his way for the player to open. Most items are hidden and must be uncovered by Brown, though the player can choose to avoid searching for these items in order to progress quickly. Combat Further Infomation: Weapons of Rule of Rose Combat is almost exclusively melee in Rule of Rose, with a variety of improvised weapons available, such as kitchen knives and pipes. Since Jennifer is a timid character, her melee attacks are neither powerful nor very long-ranged. Due to this, Jennifer can't hit foes from a good distance and may become seriously injured, especially against a large group of imps. The only "real weapon" in the game is Gregory's Pistol: a simple handgun which isn't achived until the final battle against Stray Dog. The pistol gives the player a longer-range and no real need to get close to the boss unless needed. Health Restorative items are snack foods in the game, such as candy and scones, which each heal varying amounts of health. Animal Bones and meat can be used to restore Brown's health if he becomes injured. Other items - such as marbles and ribbons - have no immediate use, but may be traded with the Aristocrats in order to obtain food, unlockable items and weapons. Unlockables Further infomation: Unlockables found in Rule of Rose Soundtrack Main Article: Rule of Rose Soundtrack A 6-track promotional soundtrack CD was produced by Atlus, which was issued to customers from certain retailers when Rule of Rose was pre-ordered. The musical score was composed by Yutaka Minobe, who also composed the music of [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Skies_of_Arcadia Skies of Arcadia] and some tracks from the [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Panzer_Dragoon_Orta Panzer Dragoon Orta] soundtrack. The entire score was created without electronic instruments - most of the music was produced by musicians, the Hiroshi Murayama Trio, using pianos and string instruments such as violins and cellos. According to the game's developers, the music was intended to bring a human element to the atmosphere in the game. The theme song of Rule of Rose is intitled A Love Suicide, and was preformed by The Hiroshi Murayama Trio with Hiroshi Murayama on the piano and the vocals were provided by Murayama's wife, Kaori Kondo. Critical Response Reaction to Rule of Rose has been lukewarm, with mixed reviews. It is generally agreed that the game has an interesting plot, with The AV Club observing that "aside from a few deep curtsies and an unlockable Gothic Lolita costume, the characters are more sinister than sexualised". However the gameplay is widely lambasted as clumsy, archaic, and unrewarding. The press was generally divided upon how much the gameplay detracts from one's ability to enjoy the story itself. [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edge_(magazine) Edge magazine] found neither plot nor gameplay appealing: "It’s just a murky brew of meaningless, exploitative dysfunction filling an empty game, and it leaves a bitter taste." Acegamez, on the other hand, not only admired the game's plot but also found the gameplay appealing if slow: "a wonderful psychological thriller that will draw you in with its bizarrely compelling narrative, atmospheric presentation and thoughtful story-based gameplay". The game has also obtained a Metacritic metascore of 59/100 and a GameRankings average ratio of 61%. Controversy In Europe Rule of Rose raised controversies in Poland, where the Ministry of Education raised questions concerning the game's suitability for minors because of the themes of child violence and sexuality - the game was rated 16+ in Europe. The then European Union justice minister Franco Frattini attacked the game, saying that it contained "obscene cruelty and brutality". He also called for changes to the PEGI rating system in place across Europe and for government officials to engage in discussions with industry representatives. According to news site The Register, Frattini received a letter from European Commissioner for Information Society and Media, Viviane Reding, who criticised Frattini's actions: "It is...very unfortunate that my services were not pre-consulted before your letter to the Ministers of Interior was sent out." Reding reminded him of the commission backed self-regulating ratings system called PEGI that has operated across the EU since 2003. The PEGI system of classification, according to Reding's letter, offers "informed adult choice" without censoring content - "This is in line with the Commission's view that measures taken to protect minors and human dignity must be carefully balanced with the fundamental right to freedom of expression as laid down in the Charter on Fundamental Rights of the European Union". On 7 March 2007, a group of MEPs presented a Motion for a European Parliament resolution on a ban on the sale and distribution in Europe of the game and the creation of a "European Observatory on childhood and minors". The games publisher for Europe, 505 Games, chose to cancel the release of the game in the UK in responce to the complaints by Frattini and other EU officials, and "largely misleading" commentary from the UK press. It was released in the rest of Europe. Review copies of the title had already shipped to UK journalists when this was announced. The Video Standards Council, the UK rating body which had granted the title its 16+ PEGI rating, responded to the press and Frattini's comments: In Australia and New Zealand In November 2006, 505 Games' Australian and New Zealand distributor, Red Ant Enterprises, confirmed that the release of the game had been cancelled in both territories. Red Ant stated that the game had not been submitted to the Australian Office of Film and Literature Classification for approval, without which the game cannot be sold in Australia. ''Rule of Rose had a Australasian release in February 2007. In the USA At E3 2006, Atlus announced that they would be releasing Rule of Rose in the United States, following Sony's decision to pass on a US release. Sony's decision was on the grounds of the game's erotic undertones involving a cast of female minors. Punchline disagreed with this, saying that the sexual themes are only a small part of the game. Video External Links *[http://www.atlus.com/ruleofrose/ Offical Rose of Rose US wedsite] *[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rule_of_rose Rule of Rose] on Wikipedia *[http://www.dmoz.org/Games/Video_Games/Action-Adventure/Survival_Horror/Rule_of_Rose/ Rule of Rose] on Open Directory Project